Taking A Trip Down Memory Lane
by ThePeachyReader
Summary: He gave her a few more minutes to finish reading that book of hers, but instead of reading the romance novel Hinamori's thoughts wander off. She wonders about her own romance with her white-haired friend, if you could call it that, she's not quite sure herself.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: It's been a while since I finished my first story. I've been trying to write a new one and thought up of a few scenarios, but none of them were ones I knew how to work with. But then I got this idea and well... since I want to finish stories before I post them. Let's say it took a while to finally publish this story.**

**Disclaimer: Bleach. When shall Bleach be mine, I wonder? Never if Kubo can help it.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 <strong>

Silence. Yes, no sound could be heard from the room in which two adults were resting. Well, no sound other than the occasional flipping of the pages from the book the young lady was reading. She was peacefully reading the romance novel in a sitting position, leaning deep into her comfy, fluffy pillows. Even though she wasn't very keen on the romance genre, finding some to be too sappy for her taste, she decided to give it a try anyway since her fellow reader Nanao Ise recommended it to her. And everyone knew Nanao knew her books. Matsumoto Rangiku, her other dear friend, also recommended her a book..., which included some very 'explicit' scenes. Very detailed 'explicit' scenes. Yeah, she rather listen to Nanao when it came to books. She was glad too, it's quite an enjoyable read. Not too sappy that it makes her want to throw up rainbows, but the love aspect wasn't lacking either.

"Momo, put that book down and sleep."

Hinamori Momo glanced at the male who was lying next to her on the bed. His face was burried into his pillow, making her wonder how he could breath properly like that. He did have a point though, it was near midnight and she was still reading, with her night lamp near the nightstand providing her the light she needed. It wasn't too bright of course, she didn't want to bother the white-haired male.

"I'm almost done with this chapter, Toushiro. Give me a few more minutes."

He groaned and rolled to his side with his back facing her. She assumed he did that so he could have an easier time breathing. "30 minutes and that's that.", he mumbled.

She nodded to show him she understood. Not that he could see her, but she liked to pretend he had invinsible eyes on the back of his head. Or pretty much everywhere. He always seem to know what was going on with her, even when he isn't around. Like when she was at work and her stomach growled. Five seconds later he showed up with a basket filled with juicy peaches... Mmmm, peaches. He said he just happend to walk by her office and bought the basket, just because he felt like it. She was a bit suspicious, but didn't question it.

She focused on her book again. Right, she was thinking that it wasn't a bad story and how the romance was rather sweet. Not too much, not too less. Which reminded her of her own romance, if you could call it that. She wasn't really sure herself.

She glanced once again at the twenty-two year old, sleeping male next to her. Hitsugaya Toushiro, or how she sometimes called him, Shiro-chan much to his dismay. He told her time and time again not to call him that, saying that it was too childish. And she apologized time and time again, explaining it was a habit of hers that wasn't easy to get rid off... and she secretely enjoyed annoying him. Just a tad bit.

So, back to the romance. It started back when they were in elementary school. Sorta. Not really. Hey, you can't just expect two kids to fall in love immediately.

He was in second grade and she in the fourth, since she's two years older than him. Hitsugaya was only a little boy back then and well, with white hair and teal eyes he certainly did stand out, but not in a good way. His classmates, or everyone who just happend to pass by were scared of him or they couldn't stand the fact that he was a whole lot more intelligent than they were. In other words, he had no friends. Not that he minded that, he couldn't care less about other people. Except his grandmother, he loved her to death.

Hinamori Momo, on the other hand had a small circle consisting of close friends. Three boys, Abarai Renji, Kira Izuru and Hisagi Shuuhei who was two grades higher than her. Hisagi was also the one who introduced her to his pretty classmate Matsumoto Rangiku. The blonde soon became friends with the raven-haired girl. Matsumoto wanted her to meet her other friend too, namely Ichimaru Gin. He was friendly towards her, however she couldn't help but feel a wee creeped out everytime he grinned. In short, the whole time. Hinamori did hear rumors about a boy with snow white hair, but she never saw him. She was a bit surprised though, with Ichimaru and his silver hair (he swore it's all natural, she had her doubts) could it be that bleaching your hair was a new trend or something?

Hitsugaya, being the genius he was, got told he could skip a few grades next schoolyear. So he ended up in fifth grade together with Hinamori. Sadly for her, she got seperated from Abarai and Kira. There were also Hisagi and Matsumoto who went off to junior high school. And Ichimaru, but she was more relieved than sad about that.

Their homeroom teacher was a man who liked to do things systematically, so he drew a map where the pupils should be seated, based on their last names. And so Hitsugaya and Hinamori, with their last names starting with the same first two letters were to sit next to each other.

Hinamori just stared at him, but made sure she didn't do it in an obvious way. She didn't want to come across as rude to the person she was going to sit next to for the rest of the year. So this is the boy people have been talking about! She wondered how many times he had to bleach his hair to get it so... white. Let alone the amount of hairgel to make his hair look so spiky. She frowned. Didn't he know that all those hairproducts were damaging his hair? She then glanced to her other classmates. The teacher wanted them to introduce themselves and it was almost her turn. After the boy behind her finished introducing himself she stood up.

"My name is Hinamori Momo. I'm ten years old and I like to draw and read books.", she said with a smile.

After she sat down it was Hitsugaya's turn. She looked up to see his face. His expression was of the bored variation and so was his voice. "My name is Hitsugaya Toushiro. That's all."

The raven-haired girl then noticed how short he was, which made her snicker inwardly. She bet she was at least seven centimeters taller than him. Not that she would tell him that, of course. Again, she didn't want to come across as rude.

The first few weeks went well. Hinamori still met Abarai and Kira during lunchbreak and she also befriended some of her classmates. Hitsugaya wasn't so lucky. His icy personality once again made it difficult for him to make a connection with the other kids. That said, he wasn't an utter hopeless case. Not with the upbeat and friendly girl who decided to share her lunch with him one day.

It was lunchbreak and Hinamori was searching for her friends when she saw the white-haired boy sitting alone with a sad face. Well, for the untrained eye he looked as stoic as ever, but these past weeks she managed to take note of the slight changes of his face when he was feeling a particular emotion.

"Hitsugaya-kun? What's wrong?", she asked as she sat down on her chair.

He sighed, "It's nothing. I just forgot to bring my lunchbox."

She shook her head. Now, that just won't do. If he wanted to grow taller (and she was pretty sure he did), he should at least eat properly. She opened her own lunchbox and it revealed some amanatto.

"Here, you can have some if you want." She shoved her lunchbox closer to him. His eyes widened a little. Was she offering to share her food with him? He stared at the sweet, fermented red beans and Hinamori asked herself if perhaps he disliked it... "They're yummy you know, I promise."

Yummy?...Yummy?! What did she mean by yummy?! They're absolutely delicious! He picked one up and chew on it. Savouring the sweet, sweet taste of the amanatto. After he swallowed it he took another one, and then another one and... Hinamori blinked with her eyes. Never has she seen someone eating so fast. And in a flash all the amanatto were gone.

The white-haired boy realized that he ate all of the red beans and blushed a faint pink colour. "I'm sorry.", he mumbled, embarrased of his lack of restraint when it came to eating his favorite foods.

She giggled lightly, "That's okay. See? I told you it's yummy!" Hinamori packed her lunchbox in her backbag again and Hitsugaya remained silent. Deep inside he wanted to tell her that it was an insult to call the awesomeness that is amanatto 'yummy'. But then something else struck him. She wasn't scared of him. In fact, she was being nice towards him. He took a better look at her and found out they were almost complete opposites. Her hair was dark and his one light. Her personality was warm and his one cold. She was of everage height and he... not so much.

"Aren't you going to spend lunchbreak with your friends?", he asked in a not so nice tone. He didn't even thank her, but he didn't do that because he had no manners. No, he wanted to watch her reaction. Was she going to be mad? Hurt? Or just ignore him?

She put her backbag down and turned to him. She smiled, "Nah, I can hang out with them any other day too. They probably won't mind that much either. Besides, I want to get to know you better if that's okay with you." She blamed her curiosity for that. He always looked like such a loner and no one took the trouble to talk to him. She believed he wanted it that way, so she didn't talk much to him either. But in reality, she really did want to befriend him. See him smile for a change instead of that pernament pokerface.

He blinked with his eyes. First she shared her lunch with him and now she asked him if it was okay to get to know him better? What was she? A weirdo? But then again, this wasn't your everyday opportunity life was offering him. If he didn't take this chance now, then he maybe really will end up alone for the rest of his life (except for his grandmother, but she was very old and as much as it pains him, he knew she couldn't always stay with him). And that's all coming from an eight year old boy. So he accepted, "...Whatever." Even accepting things nicely just wasn't his style.

Hinamori laughed. She wasn't put off at all, more amused by his attitude. "Good!"

Because of Hinamori, the white-haired boy got introduced to her other friends. Not everyone felt comfortable around him, but Abarai and Kira did. Having a weird hair colour himself, Abarai felt he could relate to him. And Kira trusted everyone Hinamori associated herself with. Just because.

Hitsugaya's grandmother noticed something about her grandson. Lately, he seemed more... happier than usual. Which itself says a lot, because he never looked happy unless he was with her. So when she saw him smile lightly at a raven-haired girl who was busy tying her shoe laces, she was flabbergasted. And that's an understatement. School has ended and when his grandmother went to pick him up she also took the chance to know more about this girl.

"Toushiro.", she spoke. The boy whipped his head to her and his expression brightened. Slightly, of course. There were still other people around and they didn't need to find out he actually had emotions. "It's time to go home. Say bye to..."

"Hinamori Momo, madam. It's nice to meet you!" The young girl grinned as she extended her hand to the elder woman.

"Oh, my. Why, it's nice to meet you too, Momo-chan." She shook the smaller hand with her own wrinkled one. She laughed softly when she looked at the two childeren side by side, the contrast between them very evident. Hitsugaya took his grandmother's hand when they were about to walk away. "See you tomorrow, Hinamori."

"See you!" She waved at them and then began to walk to her bycicle.

The elderly Hitsugaya approved of the girl the first second she layed her eyes on her. Finally, at long last, her little Toushiro made a friend. A cheerful one, might she add.

Months flew by and slowly, Hitsugaya opened up a little to Hinamori. Hinamori even started calling him by his first name and he had no problems with it. What he did have problems with was she would sometimes call him 'Shiro-chan' and wanted her to stop. But Hinamori found the pet name cute as she found him cute, especially when he's acting all grumpy. And when did he get grumpy? When she called him 'Shiro-chan'. It's a bit of a cycle.

His grandmother knew that he actually really cared for the girl, so thinking it would be fun she suggested that he should have a sleepover. And Hitsugaya couldn't refuse his grandmother.

So when it was summerbreak, Hinamori was invited to stay with them for a few weeks. And it turns out she also couldn't refuse grandmother Hitsugaya. Her parents were reluctant at first, but one glance at the elderly lady and they gave in anyway. It was fun though, they ate watermelons almost every single day and Hinamori immediately got along with the kids from his neighbourhood.

There was this one night, however, when Hinamori was reading a book on the bed she would be sleeping in with Hitsugaya. Her throat was dry so she reached out for the glass of water that stood on the nightstand. Her eyes were still focussed on the book and when she read the paragraph with the biggest plot twist she had ever seen... her hand slipped. The glass of water fell on her lap, the content staining her pajama. At that same time Hitsugaya entered the room and much to her horror, it was also the start of him calling her 'Bedwetter Momo.' They then made an agreement that neither she would call him 'Shiro-chan' and he her 'Bedwetter Momo' in public.

When they entered sixth grade, everything went smoothly. Nothing out of the ordinary or worth mentioning. But that's okay, they wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

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><p><strong>I know, it's not a very original concept, but it's a concept nonetheless. This story will only have four chapters by the way. Thank you for reading!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: So, since this little story doesn't have many chapters I think it won't take long to publish all the chapters. Who knows, maybe I'll get it done before New Year?**

**Disclaimer: Bleach, yadayada, Kubo Tite, yadayada. Not mine, but his.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Hinamori stifled a yawn. She looked over to the alarm clock on the nightstand next to their bed. Was it this late already? Still, she wanted to finish this chapter since the story was building up a climax. Oh, she and her love for reading. Which made her sacrifice her sleep and unintentionally also the sleep of Hitsugaya. Not that he would tell her that in her face, she doesn't need to know that he can't fall asleep until she falls asleep as well.

"...Nnngghh.", the young man groaned next to her. Hitsugaya shifted a bit, hoping she would take this as a sign that he was annoyed by the dim light.

Yup, he wouldn't say it in her face, but he didn't have to. She already knew. But still. "You said that I could stay up for 30 more minutes.", she said as she finished reading a sentence.

"How many minutes have passed since I told you that?", he asked very annoyed.

"...Around 10 minutes. Now be quiet and let me read." He sulked a little before shifting again, searching for a comfortable position to sleep. She stared a little at him and held in the laugh that threatened to escape her mouth. _'He may be an adult now, but he's still the same kid from all those years ago.'_

Her eyes softened. Well he did grow taller than her, which saddend her. He didn't grow that much taller than her only 5 centimeters or so, much to her relief. She enjoyed being the taller one of the two, because she liked petting him on his head. Now it would just look weird if she tried that.

20 minutes left, eh? She better hurry then. Ah, let's see the main character is driving his daughter to her school. School... hmmm, now she thought about it, how was her time as a freshman? Her hands loosened their grip on the novel as she stared ahead of her, recalling the past.

Junior high school. The year when the ten year old Hitsugaya got introduced to the four years older Matsumoto Rangiku. Her initial reaction was that he looked like a punk with his gravity defying spiky hair, which for some reason got spikier as time went by. The twelve year old Hinamori assured her it was all natural. Somehow.

Matsumoto, being a popular student, wanted her friends who just entered junior high to feel welcome and how would she do that? Introducing them to her other friends of course! But not all her friends, if she did, half of the school would have to introduce themselves to Hitsugaya, Hinamori, Kira and Abarai. No, she chose her close friends instead. And so both Nanao Ise, Kotetsu Isane and her sister Kotetsu Kiyone popped up into their lives. The former two one grade higher than Matsumoto and already in high school. The latter was also a freshman. There were also Ichimaru and Hisagi, but they already knew them except for Hitsugaya. Abarai was shocked when he found out that his childhood friend Kuchiki Rukia also attended the same school. They haven't seen each other ever since she moved away with her brother, the head of the powerful Kuchiki family. And with her, the total of their once small circle of friends expanded to eleven people.

Being around with these many people means you got to know more about different people. Hitsugaya eventually found out that Hisagi practises to play the guitar, but horribly fails at it, Kuchiki and her obsession with a bunny called Chappy and Matsumoto's and Ichimaru's love for dried persimmon, which also happened to be the fruit Hitsugaya disliked the most. Speaking of food... what was Hinamori's favourite one?

Plums. He assumed that was her favourite food, since she always ate one or more during lunch. She always chewed on them slowly with a straight face as if she was inspecting the taste and texture of the stone fruit. He couldn't be any farther from the truth. Hinamori hated plums with a passion. She chewed slowly on the fruit, because she wanted it to feel the pain of being crushed to death. Now, she was very much aware that plums aren't a sentient being, but still. She wanted to imagine that they were.

The thing is, it was her mother who loved them. She always sneaked a handful of plums in her daughter's lunchbox and for her birthdays she would buy the raven-haired girl plum themed products. If it wasn't for her father, Hinamori's first name would be 'Ume' as in 'Plum' instead of Momo. No, he suggested that if they were going to name their daughter after a fruit anyway, it should be after anything but plums since he was overwhelmed enough with his wife's plum obsession. So they settled for peach instead.

So when Hitsugaya bought her a basket filled with plums for her birthday, he was met with silence from the raven-haired girl. She stared blankly at the basket and her mouth twitched. She turned her head to him after a few seconds.

"...Thank you, Hitsugaya-kun. I... appreciate it.", she said with a forced smile. "I...just.. mere words cannot express my gratitude."

Hitsugaya was a bit let down by her reaction. He thought she would at least try to hug him and he would then tell her to back off, so what went wrong? When Hinamori was busy having a staring contest with the contents of the basket, Abarai whispered to Hitsugaya, "Uh, I don't know how to break this to you, but she actually hates plums. Next time, give her some peaches, okay?"

Hitsugaya looked from Abarai back to Hinamori who was still busy staring at the plums. He wanted to slap himself in the face for giving her that basket as a present. From that day on Hitsugaya only vowed to buy her art supplies, books or something that has to do with peaches for her birthday. "...Okay."

Abarai patted the shorter boy on his shoulder. He was glad with the gift he bought her together with Kuchiki, she insisted that everyone should at least have one Chappy item and as far as he knew, Kuchiki was always right. For the most part.

"I also like to bake cookies, so I wouldn't mind if you bought me some supplies for that too."

Hitsugaya and Abarai both flinched when they heard a very amused voice from behind them. Hinamori heard what they've been saying and she chuckled at her dear friends. "Though, if you insist to buy me food you should listen to Abarai's advice." She moved closer to Hitsugaya and embraced him shortly, whispering, "Don't worry about the plums, I really do appreciate your gift." After that she went to talk to Kira who smiled softly at her, presenting his gift to her.

The white-haired boy who was a bit embarrased just watched her. She embraced him... and he didn't even get the chance to tell her to back off. He repressed the smile that almost made it to his face. Maybe next year.

Next schoolyear they got seperated to different classes. No one from the circle of friends sat together in the same class except for Kuchiki and Kotetsu Kiyone, making it only possible to see each other after school. Hinamori, Hitsugaya, Kira, Abarai and Kuchiki all turned out to be the top students of their classes. After Kuchiki came Kiyone being second place, sharing the title with her eternal rival Kotsubaki. Hitsugaya solely focussed on his work during schooltime and refused to make any new friends. Why should he? He already had a bunch of people he could trust, so he gave everyone from his class the cold shoulder who dared to talk to him. It was elementary school all over again with rumors going around about him.

"He's such a loner. I saw Miki-chan trying to approach him and he didn't even react." A girl with mahogony hair told her classmate after nudging her head his way.

"Pfff... What else is new? He never reacts. He just thinks he's too smart to hang out with the rest with us." The bespectacled girl replied while flipping her hair behind her shoulders.

The other girl covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh. "So he doesn't have any friends _at all_?"

The short boy packed his textbooks in his schoolbag, not caring that people were talking about him.

"Ah, excuse me. Are you waiting for someone?"

He put his jacket on and then checked his desk one more time to make sure he didn't forget anything.

"Yeah, I'm waiting for- oh wait, I already found him."

Yup, everything was in his schoolbag alright. Now he ca-

"Hitsugaya-kun." Someone pet on his head, which irked him to no end. "Let's walk home together."

He slapped her hand away. "Just because you're taller than me doesn't give you the right to pet me, Hinamori."

She just waved his comment off and pulled on his sleeve. "Come on, you don't want to make grandma wait for you any longer than necessary, do you?"

He gave her a simple nod. He heard the surprised gasps from the two girls who were gossipping about him and snickered. Inside his head. Because nobody deserved the privilege of him making amused sounds except for his grandmother. Hinamori noticed it though, how his lips tugged upwards with one millimeter which made her smile too. Only her smile was way more visible than his.

Hinamori clasped her hands behind her back as they were walking on the streets while looking at the clear blue sky. "Did you have a nice day at school today?"

"It was everage, just like any other day." He swung his dark blue schoolbag over his shoulders with one hand while putting his other hand hand in his pocket. "Why do you ask?"

She skipped a few steps ahead of them and twirled around, her knee lenghth skirt flowing with her movements. "Because you were smiling!", she exclaimed happily. "And you almost never smile when your classmates are around."

He got... busted? No way she could have seen that, he was certain he maintained his impassive face that moment. He _always_ maintained his impassive face perfectly. "No, I didn't. Ands it's not just my classmates, I never smile with anyone around." Except with his grandma, but you already knew that.

She slowed down so he could catch up to her and shook her head. "Ah, but you see, my dear Shiro-chan." He scowled at her upon hearing that name and even more when she pet his head again. "I can see through your emotionless mask you love to put on so much. In short, you totally smiled."

She pulled her hand away as a reflex when he was about to swat it away. He didn't want to believe it though. Since when could she tell his expressions apart? What happened to the 'only grandma may see me happy' rule he set up for himself all those years ago? He felt her hand again, this time on his shoulder and he watched her.

"You know.", she started off with a grin. "You should smile more often and if you don't want to do that when there are other people around... At least do it when you're with me. I'm your closest friend after all, right?"

Hitsugaya thought about it for a while. True, true, she was the closest person he had except for grandma. So should he also give her the privilege of showing his not so impassive yet still a bit impassive face from time to time? "You were imagining things. For the last time I did not smile or anything that suggested that I did."

Nah, she'll have to wait. He's not going to give in that easily. Her hand left his shoulders and she sighed, she suspected he would say that. "You're a toughie, Shiro-chan... Hey, don't give me that look!"

Well he could show her his full irritated expression for now instead of his usual little scowl. She should feel honored.

That's how their days normally went. He would wake up early, eat the breakfast his grandma made for him, hurry to Hinamori's house, wait for her and walk to school together. When they arrived at the building they would seperate their ways and after school it was her who would wait for him and walk home together. They were inseparable that way. That was their routine and with their occasional friendly banter here and there, some people thought they were more than just meets the eye. Some people like a certain blonde named Matsumoto Rangiku.

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><p><strong>My Thanks To:<strong>

**hitsuhinafan: Thank you! :D I hope this update was soon enough!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Next chapter will be the last one!**

**Disclaimer: What is this Bleach you're speaking of? Oh. It's a manga? Silly, do I look like a mangaka to you? Of course I don't.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

The young man looked up from his covers and saw Hinamori staring ahead with dreamy eyes. Her hands rested on her lap together with the book she was supposed to be reading instead of spacing out like a weirdo. At this rate she's never going to finish that chapter so he did something any other normal person would do when their loved one showed undesirable behaviour. He kicked her.

"Gah!", she yelped and glared at him immediately after. And she was getting to the nice parts of her childhood too just now. "Why did you do that?!"

He rolled around and faced her. He lifted his arm and pointed at the book that was lying on her lap. "You have 15 minutes left to read that book of yours. Use it wisely."

Before she could say anything he rolled to the other side again and she sighed. He was right though, she has to spend her time the right way. So she picked the book up and searched for the paragraph where she left off. Let's see, the daughter's friend was a high schooler who was in her senior year and- Wait, high school? Was it around that time when things got strange between her and her white-haired friend? Was it? Her eyes were on the book, but her focus wandered off somewhere else.

Things did change a little when they entered high school. Well, in the beginning everything went as she expected how life as a high schooler would be, but over the course of the first few months, Hinamori noticed more and more couples popped up out of nowhere. Half of her classmates were already in a relationship, not that she cared since she was satisfied with her current situation being a single. Most couples broke up after a certain amount of weeks anyway, leaving some people with broken hearts. This made her actually happy that nobody took a romantic interest in her. Or so she thought...

"H-Hinamori-san, I have something I would like to share with you." He glanced to the windows just in time to see a bird fly by, probably searching for a place to hide from the rain. "That is, if you could spare a few minutes..."

She raised an eyebrow. This person who was talking to her was a young male named Saito Ichirou, a classmate of hers whose existence she had almost forgotten. Almost.

"...Sure." She smiled, albeit not genuinily, but hey, it's not as if he noticed that. Nobody does. "What is it?"

He took a deep breath and then looked her straight in her eyes. "I want to confess my love to you." He bowed his head 10 degrees. "Please go out with me!"

_'...What?'_ She stared at him. Hinamori may not know much about him, but she wasn't completey ignorant about him. The times when she did happen to see him he always had that moony look when he was talking to Honda Mizuki, a pretty girl with curly brown hair. _'Now that I think about it, Honda-san recently got herself a boyfriend, didn't she?'_ She eyed him suspiciously, "Why me?"

He raised his head and he appeared to be thinking how to answer her question. He tried to smile too, but she saw through it. Being with someone who barely showed any emotion like Hitsugaya all the time made it easier for her to figure someone out. "Because you're very kind, funny, beautiful and caring. I couldn't help myself but fall in love with you."

_'Liar.'_ She saw it on his expression, he wasn't remotely interested in her. Oh how she wanted to say 'no' flat out in his face, but that would be very... unhinamori-ish? Not very Hinamori? It would be out of her character, yeah that could work for now.

Hitsugaya wasn't the only one who had a reputation to hold high. So she made an apologetic face, if she was going to reject him, she would do it nicely and retain her Hinamori-ishness... she really needed a better word. "I am flattered, I really am.", she lied through her teeth. "But I'm afraid I don't want to go out with you. We can try to be frien-"

"Why?!", he yelled, shocking the girl a tiny bit. Hinamori did not expect him to raise his voice.

_'Because you're trying to settle with me. I'm not that easy, you jerk.'_ She sighed, well she could tell him the truth, but that would probably hurt his manly pride or whatever what was left of it. She didn't think there was much left to be honest, and since there's no one around but them in this room... The plan to strip off his last bit of pride did sound very appealling, even more now he's being so annoying. Her mouth twitched when she smiled and she began to speak, "Oh, I'll tell you _why_ right here, right now. It's because-"

"She's already dating someone!" That voice sounded way too familiar. The two teenagers stared at the figure who stood next to the door with her arms crossed.

"Rangiku-san?" How long has she been standing there? _'And I was just about to... Wait that's not important right now, don't tell me she heard this stupid confession of his.'_

Behind her another person showed up. A very short person. "Don't be so loud, my head hurts enough as it is."

"Hitsugaya-kun too? What are you two doing here?", she asked. Were there more people going to pop up behind them or what?

The white-haired boy stepped closer to her and began his explaination."I was going to pick you up." He pointed at the window, her eyes following him. "It's raining outside and I suspected you didn't bring an umbrella with you, so I thought we could share mine." He then pointed at Matsumoto. "We happend to pass each other by and she wanted to tag along."

The girl nodded with a smile and then frowned. He was right, she indeed forgot to bring an umbrella with her. She grabbed her bag and hurried to her friends, "Sorry. Did I made you two wait long?"

"Not at all.", the blonde and the white-haired teenager said in unision. They paused to glance at each other and Hinamori giggled, the two of them seemed to be getting along very well.

"Hitsugaya-san. Is it true?" The voice came from Saito who still didn't move from his spot. It was almost as if he was glued there or something.

The white-haired boy merely shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently."

Weeks after that, gossip started to spread about them. I mean, people already had their suspicions about Hitsugaya and Hinamori, but now it just intensified. Who knew Saito was such a blabbermouth? The two friends didn't pay any attention to it though, neither confirmed nor denied anything. They thought the rumors would eventually die someday... In the future... Sometime soon... It never really died down.

In fact, three years later when they were in their senior year, people were _still_ insisting they were an item. Were people that bored with their own love life (or the lack thereof) that they stuck their noses into somebody else's business? Gosh, how nosy could you get, I mean, really?... Frankly speaking, it was really fun gushing how cute they looked together, but that's not really the point here. What was, is the fact Hitsugaya and Hinamori never confirmed anything! It's almost like they wanted those people to suffer with their unanswered questions, which couldn't possibly be an option. Those two obviously weren't sadistic like that... Heh.

Matsumoto and her classmates already went off to university by then. While this meant that they were three hours away from their other friends who were still in high school she still managed to make some time and hang out with them. Hinamori in particular, because no matter what happens, the blonde couldn't let go of the prospect of the younger girl being in love with the white-haired boy. Who knows? Perhaps this could lead to a chain of confessions! Hinamori confesses to Hitsugaya, Abarai sees how the two childhood friends are in love and confesses his feelings to his childhood friend, which should lead to Ichimaru confessing his love to Matsu- Err... Nevermind. The girls went shopping at the mall together one day and decided to take a small break at the cafetaria nearby.

"So... anything interesting going on with Hitsugaya-kun?", the blonde asked, happily munching on a sandwich.

"Not really. Why?" She knew why, but she honestly couldn't care less.

"Oh, nothing." Matsumoto wiped her mouth clean with her napkin before taking another bite of her food. "So how is his love life doing?"

There she goes. Hinamori knew this topic would come up one way or another. Ah, well since it's inevitable anyway she might as well have a little fun too. "Lucky you, he isn't involved with anyone at the moment. You may have a chance to get with him if you do your best.", she answered with a full smirk.

This made the blonde choke in surprise. After drinking her soda to stop her coughing she spoke while shaking her head in disagreement. "No way! Unless there's a ladder involved we can't even hug normally. Let alone getting lovey-dovey!" That and she already had her eyes set on someone else. Someone with silver hair.

Hinamori sighed and moved her arms on the table with her head resting on them. "Somehow I can't picture him getting all lovey-dovey with anyone. Him being romantic would be so... weird."

"That's because you're used to him not expressing his feelings." She finished her sandwich and then smiled. "He needs someone who can look inside of him. Someone who knows how he really feels!"

_'Someone like that, huh? Someone like... me?' _Hinamori grinned back at her busty friend. "That's so cheesy."

Few weeks later, Hinamori waited for Hitsugaya when school was over and entered the classroom. He was busy packing his books in his schoolbag and she slowly sneaked up on him, not caring his classmates were watching her. She saw her target and raised her hand aiming it for his head. The same moment she pet his head, he stood up from his chair and that's when she noticed something disturbing. He... grew taller. They were both standing, neither saying a word as they watched each other. Her hand still rested on his head, he had his pokerface on and she was petrified. They were at the same height now. Petting him looked akward now.

They were standing akwardly in the middle of a classroom with bystanders right now.

She retreated her hand and muttered an apology. Her gaze went to the door, her mind still numb with the realization that her 'Shiro-chan' wasn't really a 'Shiro-chan' anymore. She sighed when she continued to walk down the hallway, she should start stop calling him that pet name. But... but Shiro-chan just sounds so cute! And he's a pretty cute guy, right? I mean, if she had to categorize him as cute or handsome, she would totally choose cute. So the name still suits him, right? He's still her not-so-little 'Shiro-chan', right?!

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya walked after her. He too was a bit confused of what just happened. Did she just apologize? Apologize for petting his head? Maybe she wasn't feeling well, her skin did look a bit paler than usual now he thought about it. Oh darn, what if she really was ill? She shouldn't be walking home on her own if that's the case! What if she faints or something? He walked faster and catched up to her, grabbing onto her arm which made her turn her head to him.

How couldn't she have noticed that he grew taller? They were always together, you'd think she would notice not having to look down at him anymore to make proper eye-contact. But she didn't notice, _because_ they were always together. He grew slowly over the course of the years and she unconsciously adjusted to the changes. She must have looked like a ghost to him as she mulled over her thoughts since his eyes widened, filled with worry. He took her hand, determined to walk her home as fast as possible.

Why did it bother her so much that she's no longer the taller one? She stopped moving which also made Hitsugaya stop since he's still holding her hand. She gave him a scrutinizing look when he turned around. How much did he actually change? She used her free hand to ruffle his soft hair. This made him rather uncomfortable to be frank. Not because she was touching his hair, but because she was wearing her serious expression instead of her usual cheerful one.

"Your hair... It's less spiky.", she remarked with a sigh. It's true. His hair resembled the style he had when they were in elementary school. But she never noticed until now and this bothered her a lot.

This time he gave her the scrutinizing look. Why was she being so strange right now? "What does it matter if-"

He couldn't finish his sentence, distracted by her hands which were suddenly cupping his face. She inspected his face with the need to know if she missed out on more details about him, but when she inched closer to get a better look she felt the warmth radiating from his cheeks. Was he... blushing? Hinamori started to laugh and shook her head when she let go of his face. "You're so cute right now!"

He scowled at her, his rosy cheeks fading away slightly. "S-shut up! You're being so weird today."

But why was he blushing?

He watched her laughing and sighed. It must be the weather or something. Meanwhile, Hinamori decided she shouldn't be worried about her friend growing up without her noticing it, as long as she was there with him when he grows up.

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><p><strong>My Thanks To:<strong>

**AznVKai: Yeah, I still have some problems with grammar and spelling... But I'm trying my best to improve my English! Thank you for letting me know and for your nice review. :D**

**hitsuhinafan: I hope you didn't wait too long and I also hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! :D**

**lahtrevaskis: Thank you for your nice review! Next chapter will be the last though. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: There you go! The last chapter. It's been fun writing this little story. :)**

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite, not me.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

A small sigh escaped her mouth. Hinamori drummed her fingers on the cover of the book while trying to figure out what kind of relationship she shared with the white-haired male. They've been together for so many years, they know everything about each other. So why was it so hard for her to determine whether they were more than just close friends? Ever since they began living together people commented how perfect they were as a couple. Were they perfect though? Well, they were both very organized and knew each other's schedule by heart so deciding who has to do certain chores around the house or buy the groceries that day never gave them any problems. And sure sometimes they hold hands when they take a stroll around the park, have a picnic together and fool around from time to time, but does that mean they were in love? ...The more she thought about it the more she believed that they really did look like a couple. When did they start living together though?

A few years back she, Hitsugaya, Kiyone, Kuchiki, Abarai and Kira enrolled the same university as Matsumoto, Ichimaru, Hisagi, Isane and Nanao. She was sitting on a bench next to him, swinging her legs up end down. He stared ahead, stonily watching two childeren running around the park playing tag. They weren't doing much, just sitting here on a peaceful afternoon. Kuchiki invited them over to her house where they were holding a graduation party. Hitsugaya refused and that made Hinamori refuse too. Something's been bugging her and he waited for the moment she couldn't hold it anymore and tell him.

"University's three hours away from here." It wasn't such a big problem for her. Her family secretly began saving money when she entered junior high until they collected enough of it to buy her a small, but cosy house near the university. It's just that Hitsugaya wasn't as lucky as she was. When there was a lack of response from the other she took a deep breath and then looked up to the sky. "There's enough room for another person at the house my parents bought. So you know... we can share the house."

"Hinamori." He finally looked at her with a small smile, but shook his head. "I appreciate your help, but I can't. My gr-"

"Your grandma will be all alone. I already suspected you would say that." She softened her eyes at the boy and intertwined her fingers with his, causing him to turn his head away from some reason. "But remember this, you're always welcome in case you change your mind."

She moved away soon after that. Sometimes the raven-haired girl would see her other friends while walking around the campus and have a little chat with them. Sadly enough, the one person she wanted to see the most was the one she had the most difficulty to find. She would search for Hitsugaya everyday, wondering how he was holding up. They didn't speak much to each other ever since university started and everytime when she called his grandmother to speak with him she was told he was either asleep or busy studying. She didn't give up though and her persistence to see him again eventually paid off when she spotted his white hair near a tree. At least she hoped it was his white hair. Matsumoto told her a lot of people started to bleach their hair ever since they saw Ichimaru's silver one. They probably assumed the pretty blonde was into guys with light coloured hair. Fortunately, the boy who've been sleeping against the tree wasn't one of those guys, but the person she's been looking for all along.

"Toushiroooo. Wake up.", she cooed, gently shaking him by his shoulders. Though she was more used to call him Hitsugaya, he always seemed to pay more attention when she called him by his first name.

His eyes slowly opened and met her own brown ones. He felt his blood rushing to his head when she brushed some of his bangs away from his eyes. He hasn't been this close to her for what felt like an eternity. He blamed his busy schedule for that, but deep inside he knew he also avoided her. It's not that he didn't like her presence or other nonsense like that. It's just that whenever he's near her, his face heats up. A lot.

Hitsugaya placed his hand on the one she's been using to fix his hair."Hinamori?"

She nodded, moving her other hand to caress his cheek and then angle his head a bit to hers. Noticing the bags underneath his eyes, she raised an eyebrow at him. "Let me guess... You didn't get enough sleep?"

She doesn't point out that's he's looking rather flushed and he mentally thanked her for that. He muttered a 'yes' and closed his eyes once again, wishing his blush would just disappear.

Hinamori took this chance to watch him up close without him scowling at her. A friend of hers showed a lot of interest in Hitsugaya lately, pestering the raven-haired girl with all sorts of questions about him. The slender girl with honey coloured hair and sparkling green eyes was obviously crushing pretty hard on him.

"I guess that's understandable.", she murmured. He did grow into quite an attractive young man. "I just don't know how to help her..."

"Help her with what?" He stunned the girl when he suddenly woke up again, watching her with half-lidded eyes.

"There's someone I know who really likes you.", Hinamori replied rather embarrased that he heard her talking to herself. "She wants to know what kind of girl you like."

He saw her eyes flickering away from him. "...And?"

"And I don't think I can help her. It's strange, isn't it? I know everything about you, but I have no clue what kind of girls you're interested in.", she said with a laugh. Her laughing didn't last long when she felt his forehead touching hers. She doesn't know why, but him making intense eye-contact with her and feeling his warm breath made her gulp and want to look away.

"You're wrong.", he breathed before pulling away. He stood up and smirked when he saw Hinamori looking at him with a nice pink blush. He extended his hand which she accepted and pulled her up. The confused raven-haired girl watched him walking away and followed him, wondering what that strange sensation was she just experienced.

Hinamori asked him once why he always looked so dead tired, but he told her not to fret about it. He didn't want her to worry so he didn't tell her he has to wake up incredibly early every single day and skip breakfast to get to university on time. He also didn't tell her he had to do all the chores in the house, because his grandmother became a lot weaker lately leaving very little time for him to do his homework and sleep. He managed though, but while he succeeded in not worrying his best friend he failed miserably at not worrying his grandmother.

The elder lady felt guilty. He was so busy with taking care of her he forgot about his own health. He tried everything to make it look like he was fine, but that made her even more worried about him. The stress eventually took a toll on the frail woman as he found her she passed out in the living room one day. Hitsugaya was about to call the ambulance, but she regained conciousness just in time to stop him. That's when they both knew this lifestyle wasn't going to work out for the both of them. He didn't want her to get lonely so he stayed to take care of her, but at the same time his grandmother got stressed out seeing him so tired and lifeless everyday. And so a painful decision was made.

Hinamori drank some milk after taking a nice long bath. It was late and she should head to bed soon, she dropped her glass in the sink and walked out of the living room when she heard the doorbell. Not sure who in their right mind would visit her at this hour, with a storm raging outside no less, she cautiously proceeded to the front door. With a click the door opened and she gasped. A soaked white-haired boy wearing a backpack was standing there with his famous impassive face.

"What are you doing here when it's pouring outside?! Get in here before you catch a cold!" He was about to say something, but she wouldn't let him, forcing him inside her house. "Where's your umbrella?! Why didn't you call to inform me you were going to visit?! I could ha-"

"I want to take up on your offer."

"Huh?" She blinked a few times, comprehending what he just said. "...I see." She smiled soflty, then it switched to a frown a second later. She pushed him through the hallway to her bathroom. "You're soaking! Hurry and take a bath before you really catch a cold!"

He made some incoherent sounds when she slammed the door shut and locked it. She made a mental note to call his grandmother, telling her he made it safely to her place. However, that could wait. Her priority right now was taking care of her dear friend. He could sleep in her bed and she could take the cou- She doesn't have a couch. Why? Well she rarely gets any visitors, so she thought a couch would take up to much space... No matter! She'll just sleep on the futon- She doesn't have a futon, because no one ever sleeps over at her house. She's so not prepared for situations like this.

"My armchair!" Ahah! That should do it! Oh, how she loved her armchair.

"Your what?"

Hinamori spun around and saw Hitsugaya with his arm crossed looking at her. The dry clothes he was wearing right now came from his backpack which made her relieved. At least he was more prepared than she was.

"You're not going to sleep in a chair." Did he just read her mind?

"Neither are you." She'll make sure of that.

He sighed. It was late and he didn't feel like arguing with her stubborn self. "Where's the bedroom?"

She smiled triumphantly when she led him the way. He looked around, it was a clean and organized room as expected. In the corner her queen-sized bed could be found... Queen-sized. Wait what? Why did she want to sleep in a chair when there's enough space for two people to sleep on the bed. Who does she think he was? A pervert?

"We're going to share it."

He lifted her up with ease, ignoring her protests. What's her problem anyway? When they were kids she always slept in his bed with him when she came over in the vacations. So what if they're older now? Their relationship hasn't changed at all. Or... did it? He felt her shifting, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. Would she stop doing that? The truth is, Hinamori didn't mind sharing her bed with him. She did mind the fact she's a bit of a messy sleeper. The reason she has a queen-sized bed was because she rolls around too much, causing her to fall of a single person-sized bed. He forgot about that apparently, thinking she was just trying to annoy him.

So he kicked her. Not too hard of course, he's too much of a gentleman to hurt a young lady. Yeah, right.

She looked at him with a glare and rolled him over so she was facing his back. He rolled back to his previous position and with a playful glint in his eyes rolled her over to the other side. Soon they were frolicking around, rolling each other over, kicking the other's legs as soft laughter filled the room. Hitsugaya was stronger then Hinamori though and when she was about to push him, he rolled on top of her with his legs on each side, holding her hands above her head. He basically pinned her down. She stopped laughing and simply stared at him. He still had his pokerface on and lowered his head until it was comfortably next to hers. She blinked when she felt his grip loosening, hearing his breathing so close to her ears. He fell asleep. Great.

Her hands escaped his and moved to his back, rubbing it up and down. Soon after that day, Hitsugaya started to call Hinamori by her first name. Perhaps their relationship did change. Perhaps.

Hinamori broke out of her thoughts once again when she heard Hitsugaya cough. She sighed, they've been living together for a bit over five years now and every time someone asked them whether they were romantically involved or not she couldn't answer them, she didn't even know the answer herself and Hitsugaya being Hitsugaya never said anything either. She offered to buy him his own bed multiple times, but he always declined for... unknown reasons. She shrugged it off and closed her book when a little card fell down on her lap. She picked it up, inspecting it. It was an invitation to Ichimaru's and Matsumoto's wedding she put between some pages.

"Just three months until Rangiku-san's wedding. Lots of men are going to be dissapointed when she won't be available anymore.", she whispered.

He groaned and encircled his arm around her waist, dragging her down and forcing her to lie down on the bed. She was a little shocked from the sudden act and was about to chide him for it when he spoke again, ''As if they had a chance to begin with. Still, who would fall for a lazy bum like her? She hasn't even tried on a dress."

She shifted a little away from him, but was still in his hold. "True, but don't forget she has Nanao-san as her weddingplanner. I'm sure that with her everything would turn out fine... Speaking of the wedding, she asked me to bake the weddingcake." Mmmm... cake.

"She did? What flavour are you going to use?"

She rolled her eyes at him with a slight smile. "Isn't that obvious? Dried persimmon, of course. It is their favourite fruit, after all."

He scowled at the idea of such a weird cake for a wedding. ''Gross. Can't you just go for a traditional cake with vanilla or something?"

"Toushiro, I don't care if you don't like it. It's their wedding, not yours. If they want a dried persimmon flavoured cake, I shall bake a dried persimmon flavoured cake." She wasn't a fan of the persimmon cake either, but hey, watcha gonna do about it? As long as the bride and groom are happy.

''Fine, if that's how it's going to be, then we will have a watermelon flavoured cake for our wedding.''

Watermelons, eh? Sure, why not- Wait a second. ''...Our wedding?"

He nodded. ''Yes, our wedding. It's going to take place when it's autumn, so I'm thinking sometime mid-October. I thought that would be the perfect time and it compromises, because you're a summer type of person and I'm the winter type. I suppose spring could work too, but cherry blossoms are so overused, it's not even funny.''

She opened her mouth to say something, but he continued to talk.

"It's going to take place near the mountains, you know, the ones near where grandma lives, we went there on vacation last year. The ceremony will be short, there's no need to drag out it too long and the guests will only consist of close friends and family members. After the rece-"

"Waaaaait a second! ...How come I'm only hearing this now? When is this of wedding of ours going to happen?", she asked with an astonished expression.

He casually shrugged his shoulders as if it's the most normal thing in the world. "Somewhere in the near future, I assume."

She continued being astonished and raised her eyebrow at him. "And you didn't tell me this before because?"

"Because you never asked."

Seriously? Seriously, is that how it works here? "How am I supposed to ask you anything about our wedding when neither of us even proposed yet?"

He smirked. "Then go and ask me, stupid."

Hinamori stared at him in shock yet again for a minute and then glowered her eyes. _'I can't believe it. I fell right into his trap. Don't think I can't play this game too, Shiro-chan.'_

She huffed and turned her head away from him. "No, I don't feel like getting rejected by you."

He sighed. "Are you seriously going to think I'm going to say no when I've already explained some of the details of our wedding, which I've by the way, already got completely planned?" What can I say? Hitsugaya really likes to plan things ahead.

This time she's the one shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know, Toushiro. You may just have made that all up."

"Momo, stop being difficult.", he replied with a groan. Honestly, she's so troublesome sometimes.

"I'm not difficult, I'm just pondering if I really want to share my life with you." She faced him again. "What if it won't work out between us? Divorces are such a pain, that's all."

So very troublesome. "But you won't know if it will work out or not if you don't give it a try."

"Meaning?", she asked in all (fake) innocence.

"We should get married.", he answered.

She smiled mischieviously. "Why, Toushiro. Are you proposing we should get married?"

His eyes widened. He was the one who fell into her trap now. He sighed, oh well, he'll get back at her another time. "Yes, I am. How about it? Will you accept my proposal?"

She tapped her chin. "Hmmmmm... Sure, I can't see why not."

"Now that's out of the way. Will you finally turn the darn light off and go to sleep?", he asked grumpily, though relieved she accepted.

"Yes, yes. No need to be so grouchy." She flicked the switch of the lamp.

"Good night, Momo."

"Sweet dreams, Toushiro."

She fell asleep with a feeling they forgot something... Weren't they supposed to confess their love to each other or something? Ah, well it's probably not that important, their little proposal wasn't exactly, uh, romantic to begin with. Their whole relationship wasn't very romantic to begin with, but they did love each other deeply and that's all that matters.

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><p><strong>My Thanks To:<strong>

**AznVKai: Thank you once again for your kind reviews! It's nice to know you liked the story. :D **

**Hylla: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D**

**hitsuhinafan: Ah, don't feel terrible for wanting me to update soon! I'm just happy that people actually like reading this story. And yes, I already made a little start for my next hitsuhina fanfiction, but I only publish my stories until I've finished it. I'm doing my best to write it as fast as I can though! :D**

**And my grattitude to everyone else who followed or favorited or simply liked reading this story!**

**Have a wonderful day and I wish you an awesome and healthy New Year!**


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